Moses' Allergy Update

I have been poor at updating since Moses was born. I had been breastfeeding him religiously until he started having bloody diarrhea like his sisters used to. I knew it was food allergy. I had been told that most kids don’t present with food allergy when breastfeeding since so little of the food protein actually passes through breast milk. But alas, I guess my kids are hypersensitive to food proteins.

I was put on a strict diet: NO dairy, corn, pork, eggs, soy, peanuts, tree nuts, wheat, gluten, fish, shellfish for a month and a half. His bloody poopies went away but his eczema continued. And it was bad. Head to toe. No letting up. He was still in our room and he would scratch and scratch ALL night long. He couldn’t sleep. And he didn’t nap during the day either.

We saw several doctors over the course of 3 months – the pediatrician, my allergist, and a GI doctor. When he hit 5 months old and my strict diet showed no improvement in his skin, the GI doc told me we had to switch to formula. I was devastated but I wanted to do what was best for him (even though it broke my heart that we wouldn't have our “special” time anymore). He got bloody poopies on the Alimentum so we switched to the prescription hypoallergenic formula, EleCare. It took awhile to transition (breastmilk is sweet, this formula tastes like wet saltines smell, bleh). He was on the formula for a month with NO improvement in his skin. By now my milk had dried up so I couldn't go back to breastfeeding. I was even MORE devastated that I had quit “for no reason.” I realize now I can’t dwell on it, have to move forward, it is what it is.

Anyway, the GI doc ran some other tests to make sure his liver was functioning well, and it was. She told me she wanted me to see the pediatric allergist at Johns Hopkins – Dr. Wood – not only does he focus just on pediatric patients but he’s an expert in food allergies. That was the end of January and his first available appointment wasn't until April 2! Let me tell you between the Johns Hopkins GI doc and the JH pediatric allergist – they've drained our wallets – but you pay for quality care, right? Oh what we do for our kids – I guess it's mother’s guilt for giving them allergies in the first place.

We went to the appointment with Dr. Wood. He was a very nice and informative. Actually, for the first time, even since the girls were diagnosed with their allergies, I feel more knowledgeable about it all. He gave me an awesome regimen for helping Moses eczema – and it has been working like a charm! We have an arsenal of steroid creams and an Rx for Hydroxyzine that we only use when necessary (he said Zyrtec doesn't help with the itchy skin). I mean he still gets itchy but nothing like before! He’s even slept through the night a couple times! Let’s hope it becomes regular at some point J

We also had blood work for his food allergies. First, the good news: he tested NEGATIVE for corn and pork – whew! The bad news, he tested POSITIVE for: dairy, wheat, oats, soy, peas, sesame seeds, peanuts. Seems horrible, but most of these are readily labeled – so much easier than dealing with a corn allergy. I’m just so thankful it’s not corn!!!

We are to strictly avoid the dairy, peanuts and soy for now. The other ones were low-levels so we can wait until later to try them and see if he can handle them – if he has a reaction – then of course we will avoid them. For right now I’m cutting out peas because he was super itchy and rashy a couple weeks ago when we were giving him peas. And in the past week his skin is looking much better, so all of the pea protein has finally flushed out of his system, and he’s looking better.

Right now the nurse said we are to introduce the fruits first, one at a time: apples, bananas, pears, peaches, the typical baby fruits. Then move to yellow/orange veggies, of which he’s already had: squash, carrots and sweet potatoes. Then we can introduce rice cereal, since rice is the least allergenic of the grains. After that we can intro meats. By then he’ll be about a year old and we can reassess his formula/milk situation and see where to go from there.

He’ll have another allergy test at 18 months. She’s mostly worried about his peanut allergy, the other ones he can outgrow eventually, most by 5 years old. Being as we already have twins with SEVERE peanut allergies – we know what we’re dealing with – just wish we didn't have to deal with it. Poor kiddos. And poor mommy and daddy having to watch them at the playground or at the farm and make sure no kids have left peanut butter smears on the slides or toys, etc. Blah. Or last weekend when I was on the playground at the farm with the girls and another mom was eating peanuts and throwing the shells on the ground. We had to high-tail it out of there. I carry the epi-pens with me at all times. Just hoping they all don’t have a reaction at the same time – I don’t want to act out Sophie’s Choice between 3 kids if I’m solo.

And the stats for Moses at his appointment on April 2 at 8 months 1 day old – 22 lbs. 11 oz. (90^th percentile) but I didn't get his length, I forgot!

Easter Weekend

Oh we had a fun weekend with my folks. I was off from work monday and tuesday as well. Woohoo!

Saturday we did a lot of store hopping. I needed to get new sneakers for the girls and my parents wanted to treat them. We went to several different stores but alas, the girls tend to want the same style and it's hard to find 2 in the same size or for them to agree on a pair for that matter. We ended up at Walmart and got them some sparkly leopard print sneakers with lights! oooooohhh we love those shoes. And they are wearing size 9 now! Wow, so crazy how big they are getting.

On Sunday we went to my aunt's house for a mini-family reunion/baby shower for Carrie. Uncle Rawknee had bought some dresses for the girls on Saturday, so the festivities on Sunday were the perfect reason for the girls to parade around in them. It was nice to see everyone again. The girls enjoyed putting their stuffed bunnies under their dresses and pretending to be pregnant like Aunt Carrie. Too cute. I can't believe another baby will be joining the family in less than a week now. Crazy! Uncle Eug and Aunt Jane were able to make a visit and enjoy the craziness of all the little ones we having running around Aunt Sig's house now. Between Ben, the girls, Moses and Ajanja. Kids galore. It was nice to see them, and looking happy and healthy I might add! Yay!! Aside from eagerly snuggling Aunt Tiana, Moses had some serious stranger-danger to just about everyone else, so Richard happily took him downstairs, away from folks (gave daddy a chance to catch up on some NCAA and hockey, so he didn't suffer too bad).

Monday morning Francie wasn't feeling so well. She complained about her belly. I changed her diaper and she had mucous filled, bloody, diarrhea poopy - typical of a food allergy reaction. Given that we had eaten several different things on Sunday, at home and at Aunt Sig's, I wasn't sure of the exact culprit. She felt better later though. I'm assuming it was something soy. Right now, we're thinking it was pancake mix because she felt yucky again on Tuesday and that's the only common denominator between the two days. I read the label but ya know, companies are only required to notify on the ingredients, not if the product was produced on equipment shared with potential allergens. So who knows. Anywho, no more pancakes unless they're from scratch!

With her "belly ouch" gone, we headed out to the petting farm up the road from us. It's the first week they were open. Moses stayed home with daddy. The farm wasn't crowded and it was such a beautiful day. Right now is when all the little babies are being born so we saw a couple babies, but I saw some goat mamas hauling some big ole bellies so I know there will be more babies on the way. Sooooo cute! The girls showed grandpa all around the farm (it was his first time there). Then we went on our first hayride! We went through the whole Enchanted Forest. And we went through the Pine Tree Maze for the first time. All in all, it was a good little field trip.

Yesterday Richard and I took Moses for his first allergy appointment at Johns Hopkins. We had exhausted all the testing the GI doc could do and she preferred that he see an allergist that specializes in children only and, specifically, food allergies. That was back in January and the first appointment available was yesterday. Crazy, right? Anywho, it was a very informative visit. It's nice to finally talk to someone who knows the ins and outs of food allergies and seemed to actually feel my pain. I feel more confident in general going forward. He ordered new blood tests for Moses. Oh of course Moses cried, but got over it pretty quickly. We should know the results in 7-10 days. Anywho, he said that if Moses shows an acute allergy to corn it could explain why his eczema has continued - the main ingredient in EleCare (his super expensive "hypoallergenic" formula) is corn. I told him I relayed my corn concern to the GI doc and she said the formula shouldn't bother him. He said, well it is a heavily processed corn but a small amount of protein can always remain and if he's highly allergic, he will have a reaction. He said corn is a terrible one to have though, so let's hope not! So I'm trying to not get overly concerned before we even know the results.

On the plus side, the doc said most food allergies and eczema are outgrown by 5 years old. He said it's not like turning off a light switch, it's a gradual thing, but that it eventually gets better (except for peanuts - they stick around forever). He said that while there is no magic cure for eczema, they can try to improve comfort to 80%. He said if anyone had to choose between eczema and asthma, asthma would be the lesser of two evils because asthma can be controlled with the various treatments available, where as there is no set cure/treatment for eczema. So now I'm armed with an arsenal of steroid creams and a detailed plan of action. He said, theoretically I can use the same eczema treatment plan on the girls. I feel so empowered. So here goes!

The doc said, as we have been accostomed to hearing between our girls and Moses, that most kids with food allergy suffer from malnutrition or failure to thrive -- but just as our children have been unfortunately blessed with food allergy genes, they have been equally blessed with "hearty" genes and grow reallllllyyyyy well despite the allergies. So that's good.

Moses turned 8 months old on Monday. Yesterday he weighed in at 22 lbs. 11 oz. (it was on a full stomach mind you). I didn't catch his length, but he's definitely longer than the girls were at this age. Big boy. And he's officially wearing 18 month clothes now which are fitting perfect length and width-wise. Insane. The girls were on the same track when they were his age (quite a bit shorter though, used to have to roll up shirt sleeves and pant legs). The girls have definitely thinned out since hitting 2 years old. I'm assuming Moses will do the same, so I'm not overly concerned about obesity issues, but keeping an eye on him just the same.

Us girls - grandma, Francie, Gracie and I - went to Target on Tuesday night to get some hooks to hang some decorations on Moses' bedroom wall (yes, we hope to get him in his OWN room this weekend! Finally!!). We walked by the kids clothes on the way to the back of the store and the girls were fawning over the dresses. Oh I have total girly girls. I guess Sunday just opened up a whole new world of dresses for them. Of course grandma couldn't resist and asked them which ones they wanted. They were so cute and holding the dresses up to each other and saying "ooooooo so pretty!" Funny girls. My mom also bought them some little kid nail polish so they were actually able to paint their toenails AND their fingernails. Oh man, are we colorful.

My parents left yesterday. It's lonely without them. Can't wait for them to visit again! I definitely appreciated the extra help around the house.